or PEISHAR, a district and very ancient city of Afghanistan, in the province of Caubul, intersected by the Caubul River, and surrounded on all sides by a mountainous range, by which it is sheltered from the cold winds, and rendered very hot during summer. It is well watered by innumerable streams flowing down the mountains, which are always covered with verdure, produces all sorts of garden-fruits, especially melons, and, with the exception of Cashmere, is considered as the finest province within Afghanistan. It is extremely populous, containing, within a circumference of thirty-five miles, 300,000 inhabitants. The city of Peshawur is large, being upwards of five miles in circumference. The houses are generally built of unburnt bricks in wooden frames, and are mostly three stories in height. The town is intersected by two or three brooks, which run into the Caubul River, and are crossed by bridges. The streets are narrow, but paved, and have a kennel in the middle. The Caubul passes to the north of the city; and the town is adorned with numerous mosques and other edifices, which scarcely merit any particular notice, if we except a caravanserai, and the citadel, which stands on a hill north of the town. This citadel, which is not a place of strength, contains some fine halls, and commands an extensive prospect of the surrounding country, and is adorned with spacious gardens. Few of the houses of the nobility are of any note, but there are some splendid palaces belonging to the king. The inhabitants of this city consist of tribes from all quarters of the East; but the common languages are the Pashtoo and the Hindustanee. The Hazarees, descended from a tribe of Tartars, are the most conspicuous tribe in this city, and still exhibit in their broad faces all the marks of the Tartar physiognomy. Peshawur is an ancient city, and is often mentioned in the histories of the tenth century. In the sixteenth century the city was much improved by Akbar, who, seeing the aversion of the Afghans to commerce and industry, encouraged a number of settlers from the Punjab; and it became a great commercial mart for the trade carried on between Persia, Tartary, and India. It is the residence of many wealthy merchants, especially shawl-dealers; and the markets are abundantly supplied with provisions. This city was visited in 1809 by the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, who was sent as ambassador by the East India Company, and had an audience of Shah Sujah, the Afghan king, who was shortly afterwards defeated by his brother Shah Mahmoud, and obliged to fly. The country has ever since continued the scene of civil war. Long. 70. 37. E. Lat. 33. 32. N.